Tag: Deep State

Cool, Government, Politics, woke

I Don’t Really Care, Margaret

A reader called me out: my August ‘23 post aged like milk. Trump was neck-deep in lawsuits, fundraising was flat, and Ronna McDaniel was still RNC boss. I figured the DNC/deep state machine would crush him—swap in Newsom, game over. Wow, was I wrong.

On October 27th, 2023, Elon Musk bought Twitter, and everything changed. Suddenly, regular people could call BS on the nightly news without disappearing into the shadowban void. Then came July 13th, 2024: Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet missed Trump by a hair. Secret Service piled on, but he shoved through, fist up, roaring ‘Fight, fight, fight!’—a middle finger to fate itself.

Without those two events I don’t think Trump wins. That iconic photo of Trump, fist raised, blood streaming down his face was the final inflection point that pushed us down a different path.

Since then, watching the Right realize they no longer have to prostrate themselves to the establishment has been nothing short of amazing. VP Vance summed it up on Face the Nation. Margaret Brennan cut in, pushing back on deportations. He just shrugged: ‘I don’t really care, Margaret.’ Boom. That’s the new vibe—unapologetic, done with the script.

Trump has always been bombastic and says whatever he wants, damn the consequences. But his previous administration, and the collective Right, were milquetoast hostages with Stockholm syndrome. Conditioned to rarely push back against the left’s narrative for fear of being seen as too extremist, or worse… Those days are done. That’s the mood now—done playing defense.

You now see it with everyone in his administration and the conservative ecosphere. Trump’s team isn’t just pushing back; they’re steamrolling waste, woke nonsense, and the left’s tired script, while the media wails into the void. Watching the right realize they can ditch the media game entirely? Pure satisfaction.

Trump and DOGE could still stumble. The deep state isn’t going down without a fight. The establishment republicans are mouthing the words, waiting to see which way the wind blows. But even if they falter, the system reset was worth it. The country was teetering on the edge; it needed a hard snap back to reality. For the last four weeks, every day feels like unwrapping a gift as I scroll X obsessively, waiting for the latest mic drop.

The elite? The establishment? They are discovering the meaning of, “If thou meddlest about, thou findest out thus”. Glorious.

Government, Politics

You Can’t Handle The Truth

First off I have to confess to liking a good conspiracy theory. I can sport a tinfoil hat with the best of them. And you have to admit that this last week has provided a plethora of deep state, unknown force theories all working to undermine our country. The last few days I haven’t been able to refresh my X/Twitter feed fast enough. Approximately every five minutes I’ve been shouting down the hall to Mrs Troutdog the latest news. “OMG won’t believe this – the shooters cell phone had three phone calls from Vladimir Zelensky!” “You won’t believe this – Biden actually died in Vegas and Obama has been coordinating the plan to dump Kamala and get Newsom elected!” You get the idea. But upon reflection this morning… I don’t think any of this is a “conspiracy”.

While I enjoy intrigue, I’m also a realist. You know, that whole Occam’s razor thing. All things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually correct. The more I think about all the recent happenings, there’s one common thread. Incompetence.

Government generally speaking is incredibly incompetent. Usually laughably so. The incompetence increases the further away you get from local government. By the time you reach the federal government, an inability to manage the simplest of tasks is rampant. Throw in greed, corruption, naked ambition, stupidity, and the bubble of Washington, and you have the perfect recipe for the incompetent blog that characterizes much of government.

This is how California has a high speed rail project that’s been going for 15 years, has built virtually nothing, will cost $150 billion, and isn’t projected to finish for at least another decade. Or how the Biden administration “invested” $7.5 billion on EV chargers and has only built 7 of them. Or how we fucked up the Afghanistan withdrawal. Or the Covid response. At the local level it took my town more than six months to get a dashboard/tracking website up for Covid cases. This was the ENTIRE MISSION OF THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT and they weren’t ready. You had one job, be ready for a pandemic event, and you failed completely. The examples are endless. This is government at its finest.

So now when I reflect upon the (many) events of the last weeks, I’m seeing them through the lens of government. I think it’s a cascading series of events that are trying to be managed by incompetent people. Was it a conspiracy to hide multiple shooters paid for by George Soros at the Trump assassination attempt? No, I suspect it was incompetent DEI leadership, lowered performance standards, and laziness that allowed the typical lone wackjob shooter to nearly succeed. Everything else is a collective rush by everyone to cover their butts. Hide behind lawyers, the DOJ, stall, blame “the ongoing investigation”, throw a few local Barney Fife types under the bus, and by the time Kamala is president it’ll be forgotten. You really think anyone in government is actually capable of keeping a secret? Hell, the Secret Service Directors full statement was just “leaked” to the press before she could give it to congress. Leaking is how Washington works.

The Biden drop-out issue? I think in reality this has been in motion for a while. The DNC simply had no idea what to do. Biden didn’t want to go and nobody wanted Kamala for fear she couldn’t win. Finally with the horrible debate performance, the donors started getting cold feet and that was enough for the big players to pressure Jill and Hunter to convince him to drop out. Everything since then has been nothing more than a scramble to figure out how to message this and how to handle the Kamala scenario. Realistically there was probably no way the DEI wing of the party was going to let the first female VP be passed over. Considering Kamala has been the abortion czar and that’s 1/3 of their party platform, the optics wouldn’t have been great had they removed her.

So that’s it. Stupid, power hungry people, desperate to cover their butts, all jockeying to be in the best position possible when the dust settles. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that. I mean my god, have you seen the picture of Biden’s speechwriting team? Nothing but college interns and gender studies graduates. It’s frightening to think these are the people shaping the messaging of the most powerful country in the world. It actually goes a long way to explain much of the past four years.

I think it’s time to put away the tinfoil hats and crazy theories about a new world order orchestrated by the UN and the WEF. Obama, Hillary, and Pelosi aren’t pulling any strings behind the scenes other than trying to figure out how to make their stock portfolios grow. The CIA isn’t planning the next Bird Flu pandemic to disrupt the election. And the FBI is too busy working with the DOJ to arrest more of those evil J6’rs to be involved in anything more sinister. So just check those conspiracies at the door and let the process play out. The country likes equilibrium and tends to balance itself out every few elections. It may look a little messy, but I guarantee all will be status quo given a bit of time.

LOL, just kidding. Nothing adds up and there is shit being covered up at the highest levels in all agencies. There’s been a glitch in the Matrix and the system is scrambling to regain control. And the closer we get to the bad orange man regaining the presidency… the more desperate the state will get. Buckle up buttercup, it’s about to get weird.

Confirmation bias, Government, Politics

Which Tribe Are You?

Quite a while ago I wrote a little missive on tribes. I remembered it this morning as I watched all the left-leaning talking heads desperately try to spin the latest videos of Captain Applesauce (our commander in chief) as nothing more than deceptive editing and fake news. The problem is that there’s a new video (or two) virtually every day. The leader of the free world has to be led around so he doesn’t get lost or wander off. His hands are often in some weird frozen state. He experiences frequent “statue” moments where he’s gazing off into space with a slack jawed vacant look on his face. He frequently falls asleep. He spouts unintelligible sentences and has random angry outbursts. It’s actually sad to see. The man has Parkinsons and onset dementia. It’s clear and obvious to everyone who chooses to be honest about what they’re seeing. This is what fascinates me – the liberal media as a whole chooses not to broadcast those images or discuss them. They’ll go out of their way to attack anyone who accuses the president of not being of sound mind. Why?

Remember when Trump was president and he walked gingerly down a ramp after giving a speech at West Point? There was an avalanche of press reports “raising new health concerns” at the time. Clearly the press can question the president’s health when they choose to. It’s not any surprise that the media is left-leaning. That’s the tribe they identify with. Politics are possibly the most tribal part of the human condition, even more so than sports. The confirmation bias that happens within political tribes is a spectacular thing to see.

Watching the left twist themselves into pretzels trying to ignore Biden’s health issues, inflation, or explain that the border really is shut down, is comical. But the right is just as bad. To the Trump crowd, the man walks on water. He made disastrous personnel choices, gave us Fauci and Birx, a vaccine that didn’t work, implemented nationwide lockdowns, didn’t build the wall, and added $8 trillion to the national debt. Mention any of those things and the MAGA crowd will shout you down like the Nancy Pelosi lover you must be. You don’t disparage the leader of the tribe.

So the question I have – is tribalism worse today? A number of people have floated the theory that the advent of social media, and especially X/Twitter, has fostered an environment of toxic tribalism that is the worst we’ve ever seen. We’re all so busy electronically shouting at each other, have we created a chasm so large that it can’t be crossed? Could the country come together and share some common ground if we had the right leadership? Or are we headed towards a civil war?

I’m not sure. Certainly X/Twitter has made it easier than ever to fling poo at the other side like a deranged howler monkey. And the advent of podcasts and alternative news/media options has made it easier for tribes to retreat to the information sources that feed their particular narrative. But does that mean we feel more allegiance to whatever tribe we belong to than people did in the past? I’m not sure about that. I suspect that you would have had a pretty hard time convincing an auto worker in the 70’s to listen to anything a Republican had to say and visa versa.

I’d like to think my conclusion from the piece I wrote years ago still holds true. Tribalism is magnified by economics. A middle class that is prosperous and expanding is less interested in tribes. You’ll be a lot more open to other ideas when your refrigerator is full, you can afford a home, jobs are plentiful, and you can take a vacation from time to time. Take those things away and people tend to withdraw to their tribe and get territorial.

I’m not sure I believe that any more. Economically the country was in demonstrably better shape during the previous administration (pre-pandemic). Everyone was benefiting. Yet the Trump derangement syndrome never dissipated for the left after the election. They hate that man with a white hot fury. The left spent his entire presidency doing everything in their power to destroy him, despite the country prospering. That’s a level of tribalism we haven’t seen before and it certainly hasn’t gone away. The idea that the bad orange man is the candidate again, and appears to be on a path to win, is making the left insane.

Sadly, I think we’re at a level of tribalism that’s dangerous. I suspect the left will do anything to prevent Trump from taking office again. And should he win… whoo boy, that’s going to make them big mad. The riots and protests we saw last go around will be nothing compared to what’s coming.

I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re asking the wrong question. It’s not, is tribalism worse. It’s who stands to benefit from increased tribalism? Of course, it’s our old friend the Deep State. The Enterprise. The Military Industrial Complex. Whatever you want to call it, I suspect years from now history will show that the intelligence agencies have had a hand in fomenting unrest here in the US. Creating a toxic environment in which neither party can be effective. Why? To maintain the status quo. To keep the spending going. To keep the forever wars going. As long as we’re busy bickering amongst ourselves, there’s little room to affect any meaningful change in Washington.

The CIA and DIA have been fomenting revolutions and civil unrest in country after country from their inception. The FBI has been actively interfering in US politics for years. The intelligence agencies have had their hands all over the levers of US news censorship in the past and massively in the present day. You’d be foolish to not think they’d be trying to influence the direction of this country for their own self-interests (which is a scary topic all on its own).

So what can be done about it? I’m not sure we can do anything. The cynical side of me says that it’s too late. I fear that the spending and warmongering monster that is Washington has grown too powerful to limit, regardless of who we elect.

But if there is a chance, that inflection point is this election. If the evil orange man gets elected, AND he picks a powerful VP who can succeed him… maybe we can slow down the deep state. I’m not optimistic. There’s about a thousand things that can still derail Trump at this point, elected or not.

I keep repeating myself, I know… but I need to say it again. Regardless of the outcome of this election there’s going to be some spicy chaos going on. Neither side will be happy and they’re going to find someone to take it out on. I’m happy I live in a mountainous enclave that’s far away from big cities. If you’re unlucky enough to live in one of those big cities – now’s the time to prepare for the unrest that coming.

Government

I Need To Stop Reading

I’ve come to the realization that I need to stop reading. And watching podcasts. It makes me angry and probably isn’t good for my blood pressure. I’ll give you an example. I started out my week by reading the book “The only plane in the sky“. It’s an oral history of the 9/11 attacks. Minute by minute recounts of the events of that day by everyone from survivors, police, fire, and government officials. Excellent book that at times was hard to read. Going through the transcripts of peoples last phone calls to their loved ones is heart wrenching. It rekindled the anger we all felt after that day. I’d forgotten how big and devastating the attack was. Hard to believe that was more than twenty years ago now.

After finishing the book, a long-form interview popped up from Shawn Ryan. He interviews Sarah Adams who is an ex CIA targeting officer who specialized in Libya and Pakistan. This is her second interview with Shawn. It’s basically a masterclass in how we managed the end of GWOT and what the Islamic armies are up to now. Want to be angry at your government? Go watch this.

In a nutshell our government is corrupt, incompetent, and so driven by politics we’ve dumped everything we did since 9/11 into the wastebasket. Al Qaida is now more powerful than they were pre-9/11. And the best part? We’re funding them. Yep, we fund the Taliban to the tune of $40-87 million dollars… A WEEK. Yes you read that right. A plane with pallets of cash land every 7-10 days. Ostensibly it’s for humanitarian work, but it’s all siphoned off by the Taliban, to terror leaders, by ISIS, and the bin Laden group. We’re funding everyone we’ve been at war with. Isn’t that special?

It’s hard to comprehend the magnitude of the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. Two decades of fighting and untold loss, blood spilled, and trillions spent – for what? We’ve now rearmed the Taliban, funded them, and Afghanistan is once again the terror training capital of the world. In a previous post I described how we developed our biometric monitoring systems over there during the long GWOT. Massive databases containing biometric data on virtually everyone in the country. The Taliban now has those systems and in the last six months, with the help of the Chinese and Iranians, have gotten it all back up and running. Every poor soul the US paid or was a member of the Afghan army, the Taliban now knows exactly who they are. Tens upon tens of thousands of people have already been “disappeared”. It’s simply disgusting what we’ve done.

Here’s an even better one – the United States Government pays a monthly stipend to the families of Taliban members who were killed… fighting against us! It’s hard to believe it’s real. It makes your head spin it’s so outrageous.

I don’t understand how anyone involved can think this is ok? Where are the whistleblowers at the State Department? The CIA, the FBI, DOD, there isn’t anyone who raises their hand and says this is not right? Where are our elected officials whose job is providing oversight of all this? Isn’t there anyone willing to put party politics aside and be an American first? Never mind, don’t answer that. There’s a reason the deep state exists and exerts the power it does.

I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have served during the GWOT and now see this. What a punch to the gut. What a waste of blood, lives, and trillions of dollars.

So that’s it. Until my blood pressure returns to normal, no more reading unless it’s weight loss or gardening books. And definitely no more podcasts. Or Twitter. I was much happier with my head in the sand. At this point I wish I could take the blue pill and go back to blissful ignorance.

Government, Politics

I’ll Take Chaos For $200, Alex

I don’t know what the next couple of years will look like exactly, but I am sure of one thing. It’s going to be a bit… spicy. When the Deep State and DNC managed to secure the win during the last presidential election I was disappointed. Yes, I voted for the bad orange man over the dementia patient in the basement. What’s funny is that although I preferred team elephant, I honestly didn’t think it would make that much difference. It’s a uni-party after all. I figured a bit more spending on climate change, maybe a tax hike here and there. Bad, but not the end of the world. Never in a million years would I have thought things would go downhill so fast. We’re now a bit more than half a year away from the next election purchasing event and it feels like this one is going to be a doozy.

We are going to see some serious chaos no matter what the outcome is. At the moment the bad orange man looks to be the RNC nominee. That’s not a guarantee however – he has some serious fundraising and legal issues to overcome between now and then. If he’s taken out by some Trumped up charge (see what I did there?), expect the MAGA crowd to lose their mind. Nothing healthy for the country will come out of that.

Over on team donkey, the basement dwelling dementia patient now has full blow Alzheimer’s. It’s weekend at Bernies every day. I’m sure team Obama thought they’d be able to keep him propped up for another four years, but that looks unlikely now. So now the DNC needs to figure out how to replace him and not piss off the woke progressive crowd when they bypass Kamala. That ain’t gunna be pretty.

On November 6th, when the dust settles and the lawyers and consultants have all been paid off, we’ll see who was able to purchase the most votes. Regardless of who wins, 2025 is going to be challenging. If Trump wins, whoooo boy hold on to your hat. Trump was a walking, talking chaos factory his first term. The left hates him with the power of a thousand suns. Lest you not forget, there were riots in the streets when he won the first time. Women in pussy hats marched and Madonna talked about blowing up the White House. How do you think it’s going to go this time? You think the left was apoplectic when Trump asked why more people from “shithole countries” should be allowed into the U.S… just wait until he starts talking about mass deportations.

And if the left wins, MAGA going to be big time mad. I’m not sure they’ll take it very well this time ’round. The DNC will control the House, Senate, and the executive office. With slick Gavin Newsom as president (or better yet, Michelle), you’re going to see team Obama’s strategy for destroying America on steroids. I predict job one will be to pull a Jeffery Epstein on Elon and X in the name of preserving our democracy. The Bureau of Misinformation will be out in full force, ready to shut down the bank accounts of any of you silly rednecks who post unflattering comments about the regime.

And if all that wasn’t adventure enough, the experts and adults in the room have managed to foster a level of global instability that’s downright frightening. The odds of a world wide shooting war seem to go up daily. For reasons known only to the Military Industrial Complex, we seem hellbent on provoking a nuclear exchange with Russia. China is sitting by, licking its chops as it waits to see what stupidity we can demonstrate. Meanwhile, the Middle East is poised for even more instability (if that’s even possible). Fun times!

I’m not sure we’re in a position to step back from all this even if we wanted to. I’m not sure a presidential candidate exists that could mollify both the left and the right, while simultaneously being able to fight back against the Deep State and the war mongers. We find ourselves in a pickle. A sticky wicket. A circular firing squad of our own making.

It feels like the crisis portion of the Fourth Turning is going to come to a head next year one way or another.

So what to do about it? I’m inclined to say nothing. Get some popcorn, sit back, and wait for the fireworks. At this point the mechanisms are in motion and the train has left the station. Shit is going down one way or another. The Deep State. The Military Industrial Complex. The Enterprise. Whatever you want to call it, they’re in the drivers seat. You and I are just along for the ride.

Personally, I’d like to see President Orange Man along with VP Vivek doing some serious battle against the forces of evil. Trump is kinda of hilarious and if we’re going to witness Ragnarök, we might as well have some humor.

Only one thing is guaranteed… it’s going to get spicy.

Government

Would You Say Something?

You see the images on TV every day. Border Patrol agents waving illegal immigrants through holes in the border fence, directing them to massive processing areas. Cutting razor wire put there by Texas state troopers and National Guard. Basically being as helpful as possible to the massive flood of immigrants coming across the border every day, day in and day out. This seems to fly in the face of their stated mission statement. From the Border Patrol web site: “…its primary mission remains unchanged: to detect and prevent the illegal entry of individuals into the United States“.

The behavior of the Border Patrol that I see with my own eyes clearly contradicts the mission statement. So what gives?

Now I get it, the Border Patrol doesn’t set policy. The agents are acting on the orders passed down from their superiors, which was passed down from the Secretary of Homeland Security, who gets his orders from the White House. So those poor schmucks on the front line are left simply enforcing whatever edict they were given. It’s not their fault. Or is it?

Because I’m a dork, I went and found the Border Patrol’s ’22-’26 Strategy document. My first thought is that it’s the most useless corporate propaganda I’ve read in a while. A waste of (virtual) trees. My second observation is that in the entire 26 page document (with dramatic pictures!), there is one, ONE, sentence related to the 10,000+ immigrants streaming across the border a day. (2021 migrant encounters hit a record at the time, so yes it was an issue when the doc was put together)

So the current administration, the decision makers, and senior management intentionally decide to ignore the actual purpose and mission of the Border Patrol. Here’s the thing though… every single one of those agents swore an oath to US constitution. Who’s standing up and saying, wait a minute this isn’t right? There wasn’t a single agent who previewed this document and pushed back on the total lack of focus on the actual crisis right in front of them? Obviously a bunch of sycophant agents all clapping like seals to please the chief.

I get it. You have a mortgage. A family. A baby on the way. A new truck payment. You’ve got your eye on that new boat. While you may not entirely agree with management, those decisions are above your pay grade.

I’m just doing my job.

And that, my friends, is how we got officials filling in skate parks with sand and arresting solo surfers on the beach. It’s Covid man, I’m just following orders. It’s how we have FBI agents conducting SWAT raids on J6 grandmothers. It’s how we got Ruby Ridge. It’s how we have police officers standing by and letting protestors take over highways. It’s how the holocaust happened. People just doing their job.

I have lost all respect for the agents of the Border Patrol. While the border is literally collapsing in front of them and they’ve turned into nothing more than a concierge and transportation agency for the customs and immigration service… there isn’t a single agent who’s willing to stand up and say this isn’t right?

To effect change, it’s going to take a revolt from the Border Patrol rank and file. Masses of them speaking out to the press. Ignoring orders and helping Texas officers put in more razor wire. Going to Washington and speaking out against their management and the decisions being made.

Think that will ever happen?

The answer is no. You gotta go along to get along. Would you risk your career to say something? Almost nobody would. It’s human nature. The rare individual who does say something will be ostracized immediately and working for Walmart by the end of the year. So the status quo remains.

Food for thought when society begins to break down. When President Newsom decides to implement some draconian rule in the name of safety and security, don’t expect those first line responders to push back. Do you really think law enforcement will be the good guys standing up for the rights of citizens? When the police and FBI arrive at your door because you’ve been posting subversive messaging and disinformation… it’s not those officers fault.

They were just doing their job.

Government, Politics

It’s Chaos, Baby!

In case you missed it, which would be difficult to do, the state of Colorado removed the bad orange man from their ballot. The CO state Supreme Court ruled that due to insurrection, mean tweets, something or other, he is ineligible because of the 14th amendment. Odds are that the federal Supreme Court will overturn it, but you never know. It doesn’t really matter, because the actual point is chaos. Now, I’m going to say some things that the Trump diehards don’t want to hear. Buckle up, buttercup.

So let’s imagine for a second that Trump has managed to somehow beat or delay the 92 felony counts pending against him. And he’s prevailed in his, now, three Supreme Court filings and whatever future lawsuits will be filed between now and GOP convention. Assume the current polling is actually accurate and he manages to secure the GOP nomination. Now what?

Are you really going to delude yourself into thinking that the bulk of the Haley/DeSantis voters will happily turn out and vote for him in the general election? The never-Trump wing of the Republican Party is substantial. The big money machine of the enterprise is not going to support Trump (they want Haley). So in an era in which we know the GOP needs to eclipse 80+ million votes to beat the DNC candidate… in an environment in which the GOP has done NOTHING to combat the mail-in/absentee/Zuckerbucks issues that plagued the last election – you’re going to tell me that an absolute crushing avalanche of republican voters in swing states are going to turn out on Election Day and vote Trump in? Hmmm, ok.

I guess it might happen. I’ve been wrong before. Let’s say the bad orange man actually does manage to win. What next? Trump is a walking ego-driven chaos factory. You thought the deep state/media machine conspired against him at every turn last go ’round? You ain’t seen nothing yet baby. He will be steamrolled and blocked at every possible turn. In all likelihood the GOP will have lost both the house and senate, so he’s not going to get anything done there.

All the things he’s currently saying he’ll get done during his ego stroking rallies today… he didn’t get them done last time. What makes you think he’d get them done this time when the deep state opposition will be 100x greater than it was his last term?

One of his greatest failings last time was poor personnel choices. The end result was that virtually all major players in the Trump White House either turned against him and/or are now mired in legal actions brought by the DOJ. What sane, competent person would agree to serve Trump this time – knowing that most likely they’ll be facing millions of dollars in legal fees before the term is over?

Trump absolutely gets credit for not screwing up an already accelerating economy and unemployment rate (yes, really). But at the same time he didn’t build the wall and didn’t make Mexico pay for anything (despite controlling the house and senate), he gave us Fauci, Birx, the untested vaccine, mandatory jabs, lockdowns, he didn’t clean out the FBI or the DOJ, and added $7.8 Trillion to the national debt. Oh, and a lot of mean tweets.

Outside of the Trump rallies, people remember these things. They remember the chaos. I don’t think the average GOP voter wants another four years of the bad orange man sucking all the oxygen out of the room 24×7, for little effect. But I could be wrong.

All that aside, here’s the key issue. I suspect the deep state/DNC is salivating at the idea of Trump losing either the GOP nomination or the presidency due to court actions (as opposed to simply losing early in the primaries to another candidate). Why? Because the Right will lose their collective minds. If Trump is blocked from wining the GOP nomination I think we’ll see actual violence. Trump is the symptom of a bigger problem. The Right feels that they’re losing the country. The far left, woke, open borders, DEI policies are crushing what’s left of the American identity. Trump being quashed by the machine is going to send some folks over the edge – even the never-Trumpers would be angry (relieved, but still furious at the injustice).

And THAT is what the deep state is waiting for. Any excuse to come down like a ton of bricks with enhanced security, monitoring, and control. Federal misinformation departments, a supercharged DOJ and FBI, unending FISA warrantless searches… they’ll have their rational. We can’t have an angry right-wing marching in the streets. Leaked DHS memos already show they consider nationalist/white supremacist domestic terror to be one of the top security concerns. J6 and arrests for posting memes will seem like child’s play. Speak out against anything in the government approved lexicon and you’re toast. And President Newsom, with Democratic control of the house and senate, will happily usher in this new era of the Orwellian/American empire.

Or maybe not. Maybe the DNC is stupid enough to keep Biden as the candidate. Maybe Haley will win and our only issue will be war with the greater Middle East and Russia.

Either way, 2024 is going to be interesting times.

Welcome to the Jungle, Guns ‘N Roses

Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here everyday
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play
If you got a hunger for what you see, you’ll take it eventually
You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me

In the jungle, welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your kn-kn-knees, knees
I’m gonna watch you bleed

Government

The Madness Of Fences

It’s not a new concept. The idea of fences and walls has been around since the beginning of modern human history. They kept wild animals out, defined property, borders, and generally helped you defend what’s yours. As the poet Robert Frost wrote in 1914, “Good fences make good neighbors”. The sentiment of the time was expressed as, “…the need to have clear boundaries between properties, as well as the need for neighbours to respect these boundaries, if relations between neighbours are to remain amicable and ‘good’.”

Of course fences haven’t always led to harmony. For example, the invention of barbed wire led to the range/fence cutting wars of the 1880’s. Wealthy cattle barons would fence off public land to protect water and grazing acreage from other ranchers. Fences were cut and disputes often turned violent. Generally speaking If someone wants what you have, it’s much easier to take if there isn’t a fence.

Fences aren’t just for property owners. Currently 65 countries have, or are building, border fences/walls. Why would they do that? In some cases it’s for physical security. Take Israel for example. Without its security walls the country would cease to exist. They’d be instantly overrun by crazed jihadists, bent on driving them into the sea. The Great Wall of China was built to keep out the mongol horde of Genghis Khan.

More common today, fences are in place to restrict immigration. The world has a migrant problem. Millions upon millions of people are fleeing failed, third world countries and looking for anyplace they can make a better life for themselves. You can’t blame them. The problem is that sort of mass migration will destroy the host country if it’s not kept in check.

Millions of people flooding into Europe and the US who don’t speak the language, have limited education and job skills, quickly become a drain of public resources. Resources that many countries/cities don’t have. And further, when those new migrants don’t share the same culture and aren’t interested in assimilating… it creates resentment and destroys the fabric that holds a society together. Never, in all of human history, has a mass migration been a net positive for the host country.

Which brings us to our southern border. This may come as a shock to you, but it’s open. The current administration has decided not to enforce border security. We’re now averaging 200,000 border crossings per month. 2.4 million migrants to date for just this year. This does not include the “got aways” which the border patrol didn’t detect.

200,000 people a month who need food, shelter, medical care, schooling, etc… Month in and month out, year after year, all coming to a city near you. It defies description that anyone could defend this policy as beneficial to the United States. It’s criminal. And it’s not going to stop. For reasons that I cannot fathom, the deep state wants this invasion to continue. For example, just a few days ago the Fifth Circuit Court ruled that Texas must take down the floating border barrier it had installed.

It’s hard to imagine that this is what it’s come to. A state tries to protect its border from a literal invasion by another country, and the US department of justice immediately takes them to court to remove the barrier. Why? Can someone explain this to me?

Last month representative Marjorie Taylor Green forced a vote to impeach the DHS secretary for failing to control the border. Every single democrat and eight republicans voted against it, with a further eleven republicans abstaining. It’s clear that the establishment wants the border open. Why?

What are citizens to do when their government fails to do the most basic thing the government is empowered to do as defined by the constitution? This should make you angry. This should be your litmus test for elected officials. If they’re not going to uphold the oath they swore, they don’t deserve to be in office. I’d go so far as to suggest bringing back tar and feathers, but that practice seems to be frowned upon.

If nothing else, at the very minimum send them some mean tweets. Ask them to build a damn fence.

Article IV Relationships Between the States
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Government, Politics

Shoot At The King

As the old saying goes – if you take a shot at the king, you better not miss. Trump took his shot at the deep state and the DNC and missed badly. He thought his name, self-declared fame, and his money would protect him. He was wrong. Trump is done. This is not some MAGA rally where he can throw out pithy statements to thousands of fawning fans. There is a very real possibility he sees prison time. At the very least he’s tied up in very expensive legal quicksand for the next decade.

For all the Trump fanboys who disagree… where’s the judge who’s going to dismiss the indictments? Where’s the RNC who’s going to go to the mattresses to fight this? Trump has burned every bridge possible. What politician or businessman is going to commit their future to the Trump train at this point?

No, the sad reality is that Trump will spend whatever remains of his campaign time fundraising and then siphoning off most of that to his legal defense (he’s already doing that if you haven’t been paying attention. He has the money to repaint his private jet but not for legal fees apparently). He’s too much of a narcissist to admit he can’t win. He’d rather torpedo the rest of the party and play the martyr when Gov Newsom takes the oath of office.

Normally this would be a who cares moment. A politician overplayed his hand and is regulated to the ash heap of history. Happens all the time. But this feels different. This feels dangerous.

The near unchecked power of the deep state and the DNC is frightening. The RNC continues to demonstrate we have a Defacto uni-party. Oh sure, there’s a few republicans that write sternly worded letters but that’s simply throwing spitballs at the castle walls. Currently the power of the federal government is unchecked and is being wielded to fundamentally alter this country.

When this election is over, there will be millions of very angry voters. A MAGA crowd that will feel disenfranchised and betrayed by their country. And that anger is going to be stoked by quite a few people looking to use that anger to their advantage. Odds are that most of that anger will be shouted into the Twitter (sorry, X) void. But… if the right personality comes along… someone with charisma and persuasion ability… someone who can organize and channel that anger into action – bad things could happen.

And President Newsom has already demonstrated as governor that he does not tolerate dissent. Lockdowns and curbing of rights in the name of safety are a given. And that my friends, is a recipe for a real coup. Not a silly J6 coup, but actual violent attempts to overthrow the government. Who knows what happens at that point?

Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps the angry right is all bark and no bite. Generally speaking, Americans have been turned into herd animals. All we want to do is chew our cud and watch TV. Odds are that we wake up a decade from now and wonder where our country went.

We’ll have given up our freedom and national identity for the promise of safety from mean words, climate change, and science deniers.

Maybe. Who knows? The future is hard to predict. Besides, there’s that minor little WWIII thing developing that could alter everything. Regardless, the next few years are going to be an interesting soap opera to watch.

Government, Politics

Shuffle The Deck

Enjoying the clown show? It might almost be funny to sit back and watch this administration flail about if the consequences weren’t so dire. I do not underestimate the ability of these clowns to blunder us into an actual, serious armed conflict involving U.S. forces. Now don’t think I’m just blaming the democrats for where we’re at. It’s taken decades of incompetence, grift, and arrogance from both parties to get to this point. And along the way, we’ve managed to create a fourth branch of government that is unelected, unsupervised, and unchecked – the Federal Bureaucracy. a.k.a. the deep state.

As the old saying goes, while Putin and Xi are playing 3D chess, we’re playing checkers. Well, to be fair this administration is playing tic-tac-toe. Russia and China plan the long game. We plan for the latest news cycle. The EU worshiped at the Church of Climate Change. They now need Russia’s oil and gas. Germany is fully in bed with Russia. You’ll notice that Europe is doing virtually nothing about all this. Putin correctly judged that our economy is in trouble and we’re too busy arguing over pronouns and which bridges are the most racist. In all likelihood the sanctions will end up hurting us more than Russia. We’ll do nothing (hopefully), and he knew it. Game, set, match. Russia will now have a heavily defended buffer zone against NATO. Meanwhile, the US spent billions trying to set up yet another puppet state in the name of “democracy” that failed. Sound familiar? It’s like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. How come we never learn? Since WWII, we have failed at every single foreign policy intervention we’ve attempted. All at the cost of trillions and thousands upon thousands of lives. And yet we continue to listen to the same foreign policy “experts”.

And now we’re at the brink of a serious inflection point. I’m honestly surprised that China hasn’t moved on Taiwan yet. That’s the big test. What would we do? Are we going to get into a shooting war with China? I’m pretty sure that won’t go well. I’m sorry if I sound skeptical, but the same people who planned the Afghan withdraw, fired SOF folks for refusing the jab, and seem more worried about white rage and DEI in the military, are still in charge. It’s ok though, just like with every conflict, the UN will write a strongly worded letter.

So, what are we to do? Create a new, third party like Andrew Yang thinks? Term limits? I think term limits absolutely needs to be a part of any change. The corruption and self-interest in Washington (and state politics) is endemic. These people are dug in like ticks on a hound. If we have any hope of staving off our total demise, we need to start getting rid of the political establishment. But how do you get someone to vote for something that’s not in their self-interest?

It’s time to shuffle the deck. How? VOTE THEM OUT. Who? ALL OF THEM. Every single one of them. Both parties. Regardless of party, choose someone new. Do not re-elect the same clown. Everyone gets primaried. Even if the same clown gets re-elected, make them fight for it. Demand accountability. And next election cycle – do it again. We need to keep shuffling the deck until we get the hand we want.

Is that realistic? Nope. Is it going to happen? Nope. As negative as that sounds, I do see a tiny sliver of hope. There is a sense of frustration in the country. People are getting tired of the authoritarians. They’re pushing back against CRT and mask mandates, and censorship. At the moment, it looks like the next election cycle will be a bloodbath for the left. Will the right do something with it, or revert to politics as usual? If the new congress starts behaving like representatives of the people, AND, if we elect an actual leader (no, not Trump) with the next presidential cycle… there’s a small chance we can start to right the ship.

I give it a 10% chance. I fear that it’s probably already too late. History shows that once you start that downslide, it’s pretty hard to fight momentum. Realistically it’s not an issue for my generation – this will be for the next generation to live with. Unfortunately, this new generation aren’t much for learning from history. Because, like, you know, history is all racist or something.

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

 Upton Sinclair